Back in the Gym
A tuneup for tryouts for some U18W athletes and Volleyball Stats 9000 2.0 coming soon!
I’m just about finished with the latest updates to Volleyball Stats 9000 and the 2.0 version, with a whole lot more features I’ve been using all summer, just have to stat a test/demo match to include in the app with the new features and we’re good to go.
Expect that to be out next week, all things going well.
Tryout Tuneup
I had some players approach me about getting back in the gym to get ready for some of the many tryouts going on around Ireland for Premier League and Division 1 clubs. For our international athletes they have to at least be playing Division 1 to get some higher quality reps in, otherwise we’re going to be woefully underprepared for competitions abroad. So I’m thrilled they’re out looking for new opportunities.
For my internationals I’m going to be focused on three things for the next campaign:
Continue to work on making good passing, good serving teams
Good OoS teams
Getting our setters to the next level
So this is where I was coming from, in this very focused tune up session:
Warm-Up
1 on 1 short court, 3 touch per side
AB Warm-Up
I use my own app, Volleyball Warmup 9000 to generate fresh AB warm-ups, but you can also go dig through the archives here and find loads of options.
Serve receive work
Coach on a box
Set up a target for them to hit
Approach and cover positions after each pass
We worked on moving them to different positions on the court; short, deep, always two side by side in half of the court, just to get them back with a feel for the ball. We (myself and another coach, U20M head coach @trio.alessandracoach) served top spin, floaters, off the box, different weighted balls.
Service work
Consistent toss work
Consistent location work
Refer to the U20W Italian short serve receive, last 3rd of the court was left empty
Serve at the passing target
After a bunch of reception and approach work to warm up, each player went back and served a bucket-full of balls, paying particular attention to the toss and where they were attacking the ball on the serve.
I also asked them to hit a very specific spot on the floor in relation to the passer. The passer then had to transition outside and take a swing from the pin, and we worked with them on talking to the setter, especially if they got pulled out of position (see that amazing Aaron Russell play on the right side in the Olympics… I’ll get a ref to it from somewhere).
OoS Attacking
OoS Double Take Drill: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/out-of-system-double-take-drill/
First contact takes it twice on coach contact over the net, sets second touch to hitter
Set targets for OoS sets
Work on high attack point, good approach
The goal was to have players setting the ball, rather than just chuck it up and pray, set it to one of four key target areas, like Hexagon Setting, Dealing with Bad Passes:
https://volleyballtoolbox.net/hexagon-setting-dealing-bad-passes
For this drill, we re-used the back row attack calls, ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, and ‘D’. A and D, in this case, are in front of the 3 meter line, while B and C are behind it.
The idea is to make sure everyone knows these are options, to communicate, as a hitter, where you’re available, have a bit of purpose and direction, as an out of system setter, and also to let others on the court know to clear the heck out of the way so we can attack the ball.
Finishing Up
We finished up with a little outside attacking faster sets… coach toss from one side of the net to the receiver, who then transitioned outside to hit an even faster ball.